Press Release. Venice calls Brussels: stop dredging maxi-canals in our lagoon!

#Venice #LagoonCalling #NoContorta
#Venezia #DURIIBANCHI

Brussels, 25 August 2014 - An international petition addressed to Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, Chairman of the Joint Committee for Safeguarding Venice, has been launched by Venetian citizens to cancel the planned project of dredging a new maxi-canal for mega-ships in the Venetian Lagoon, that would critically alter its already fragile hydrologic balance and, consequently, endanger Venice itself. 

It was signed by 575 people in Venice and by more than 10,000 people online, in just a few days. 


As from today, the petition is circulating worldwide together with an explanatory note "The Lagoon call" to raise awareness inside the European Institutions and to collect signatures within the International community living in Brussels. 

Among the subscribers, the world known historian Alvise Zorzi, former President of the Association of International Private Committees for the Safeguarding of Venice; journalists Francesco Da Mosto, Sebastiano Giorgi, Manfredi Manera, Maristella Tagliaferro, Silvio Testa, Pieralvise Zorzi; authors Alessandro Marzo Magno and Alberto Toso Fei. In Venice the petition brought together former members of the City Council and descendants of ancient Venetian Patrician families that founded and ruled the Serenissima, such as Zorzi, Barozzi, Grimani, Querini and Da Mosto; the descendants of Giobatta Gianquinto (the first post-WW2 City Mayor) and of Gianpietro Talamini (founder of the Venetian newspaper 'Il Gazzettino'); entrepreneurs Massimo and Marco Vidal, Andrea Tagliapietra, and renowned gondola master-craftsman Saverio Pastor; iconic actress Ottavia Piccolo and Professor Carlo Beltrame (reader in Marine Archeology at Ca' Foscari University in Venice). The petition was signed also by US citizens who are members of the Taliaferro/Tolliver family that traces its origins back to the Republic of Venice.

Background information 

The first subscribers and more information on the ongoing campaign:  
Gruppo25Aprile


The petition, original version: 
Fermate lo scavo del maxi- canale Contorta, prima che sia troppo tardi

The petition, English version: https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-plan-to-dredge-the-maxi-canal-contorta-in-venice-before-it-s-too-late



Twitter hashtags: 
#DURIIBANCHI #LAGOONCALLING

Spokesperson for the US: 
Maristella Tagliaferro